Gatchaman Crowds (ガッチャマンクラウズ, Gatchaman Kurauzu) is a 2013 television anime series that is based on the 1972 anime series Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. The 12 episode anime series is directed by Kenji Nakamura at Tatsunoko Production (the studio that also produced the original series). The series began airing on July 12, 2013 and is being simulcast by Crunchyroll.
The series takes place in the early summer of 2015 and is set in the city of Tachikawa, Japan. A "second metropolis" of Tokyo, Tachikawa is populated by people known as Gatchaman, who are warriors that fight in special reinforced suits that are powered by the manifestation of spiritual powers of living beings called NOTE. A council has recruited individuals that have latent powers to help fight alien criminals. In recent years, the council has appointed the Gatchaman Crew (G-Crew) to fight the mysterious entity known as MESS.
01 "Avant-garde"
Hajime Ichinose is a rather eccentric schoolgirl who is obsessed with notebooks. One day, she is approached by a mysterious man named JJ who pulls out a journal called a NOTE from her body, declaring her to be the new member of the elusive Gatchaman team. She later follows the words appearing in her NOTE to the mall, where a Gatchaman named Sugune Tachibana manages to defeat an alien that had disguised herself as a human. Later that day, Sugune brings Hajime to the Gatchaman's hideout where she meets the other members, Jou Hibiki, O.D., Utsu-tsu, and their leader, Paiman. Sugune explains that their duty is to protect Earth from a hostile alien race known as the MESS. Hajime and Sugune are soon called upon by JJ to fight a MESS at the bus station, during which Hajime transforms for the first time, whilst a mysterious figure watches.
